Renewable energy - generated for our community by our community.
Making a more sustainable world is easier when we work together.
Our mission is to help move Ireland away from a centrally owned, fossil fuel electricity system and towards community owned, renewable power that is fair, open, inclusive and sustainable.
Community solar farm.
Kerry is a leader in wind generation but when the wind doesn’t blow our electricity again comes from fossil fuel powered plants. All of the evidence shows solar can help bridge this gap. We believe 5MW solar farms are a great fit for community energy ownership. These kinds of small “utility” scale renewables offer our community a great opportunity to invest in sustainability, while also creating local jobs and keeping money in the local economy. They are also small enough to sit easily and unobtrusively in the landscape. We have identified a project near Killarney and have been working on redeveloping this since mid 2023.
In 2023 CBS Primary in Ennis Co. Clare became fully solar powered after installing 60kWp solar panels on the roof of the school. Brighter hopes to help every school achieve the same.
Kerry Solar Schools.
Our schools have a unique opportunity to inform and excite young people about sustainability. For an average secondary school with 500 students the ideal installation would be 50kWp. In late 2022 the Irish Government announced a scheme to provide schools with funding for 6kWp. This 6kWp size is what is typical on a family home and will provide only around 3 or 4% of the schools electricity needs. We continue to explore how Brighter might partner with Schools to augment these publicly funded solar panels and get closer to a meaningful percentage of onsite renewable electricity generation.
So how does all this work?
Renewable energy co-operatives have flourished in Europe over the last 20 years. In the Netherlands, over a million consumers are now taking part in energy co-operatives (link). In Germany there are more than 900 co-ops, with €3.3 billion invested in 8TWh of community-owned electricity generation.
The fundamental idea is that community members invest in a fractional share of ownership of a new local renewable energy project. New renewable projects get developed. Jobs are created locally. Money stays in the local area. Tons of CO2 are saved and (we hope) everyone wins.
Ireland has a long way to come to catch up but we can learn from our neighbors and copy what works elsewhere in Europe.
Ready to take the next step?
This is a movement we can all be part of. Whether you’re most comfortable contributing time to help roll out community energy, money to invest to help us install more renewable power, or energy to put political pressure on our governments to change, we need you on our team.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
— Robert Swan,
the first man in history to walk to both the North and South Poles.
Let’s do something together to create a brighter future.
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